Russia eyes bigger slice of space pie

May 30 2012

Elena Shipilova

From satellite communications to lunar exploration and setting up space hotels, the space industry is poised to soar into uncharted territories. In this interview with Elena Shipilova from RIR, Sergei Zhukov, head of the Space Technology at Skolkovo Innovation Center, speaks about the future of space and Russia’s ambitious plan to scale up its share in this burgeoning industry.

Has the role of outer
space in global politics increased in recent decades?

Indeed, the world economy is becoming more and more dependent on the
intensity of space activities. The market for space technology production and
services is estimated at between $300 and 400 billion a year. It has several
segments, the biggest being satellite communications and telecommunications
(over $100 billion), navigation and distance Earth sensing. Russia’s share
in these segments is less than one per cent. In the production of satellites of
various kinds, our share is 7–10%. Our share is traditionally high – 33–40% –
in orbiting payloads, but that segment is small, about $3 billion a year.

What prevents Russia from
increasing its share of the world space markets?

On the one hand, the
state financing of space activities in Russia has more than trebled over
the last five years and is still growing. The new space strategy is widely
discussed. On the other hand, there is virtually no private sector in the
industry, whereas the world trend is an increasingly confident involvement of
the private sector in space exploration. Besides, there is international
division of labour in high-tech sectors, and Russia should not hesitate to form
alliances with leading world producers.

Does the private sector
account for the US’
dominance in world space activities?

The US today is the
only country that pursues virtually all types of space activity. If one
combines their civilian and military budgets, the sum is sure to exceed the
total spending by the rest of the world on space activities. As for development
of the private segment, the US
policy adheres to a strict “division of responsibility”: study of the solar
system, including planets and asteroids, is the business of the state, whereas
developing near-Earth space is the domain of private companies. And you should
remember that the giant contractors of the US space agency today, be it
Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Orbital, are all private enterprises. They ensure America’s technological
lead.

What is the situation in
the US
regarding startups?

The so-called New Space
companies get government help under the public-private partnership scheme. Space
startups are supported by various foundations, such as Small Business Innovation
Research. Some small firms have managed to grow into world-class companies over
the past decade. One salient example is Space Exploration Technologies
(SpaceX), founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Today, he employs a staff of 1,500 and
is developing a manned Falcon spacecraft intended to deliver cargoes to the
ISS. Another interesting project was launched by Richard Branson, whose Virgin
Galactic is developing sub-orbital tourism. The company Bigelow Aerospace,
owned by the hotel magnate Robert Bigelow, is going to build a space hotel.

Do you believe that people will prefer to
spend their holidays in orbit rather on sandy beaches?

The case of Virgin
Galactic, which has received payments from several hundred people for a future
sub-orbital flight, shows that the space tourism market has a future. People
readily splash out for submerging in high-tech diving bells or mini submarines.
I am not surprised that many are prepared to pay hundreds of thousands of
dollars to experience weightlessness for several minutes and see the Earth from
outside. When technologies become fairly safe and cheap, such travel could
become fashionable. Russia
is only planning to enter that market, but we have other promising projects. The
Glonass system was finally put together last year. This is the second
navigation system in the world. The first (GPS) was made by the Americans.
There are also Europe’s Galileo and China’s Compass, but they are so
far only of local significance. The Skolkovo Foundation today supports several
navigation-related projects. This is the path towards the commercialisation of
Glonass.

Are any domestically-made “breakthrough
products” in the pipeline?

That’s a tough question. Russian
energy and engine technologies have a good chance, by which I mean rocket
engines and space nuclear plants. I do not rule some less spectacular but
important technical solutions in the field of small space platforms and
elements of on-board service systems. The members of the Skolkovo project are
working on such projects.

Besides the Skolkovo Foundation, are there many
others who are willing to support private initiatives?

We are not the only ones.
Indeed, other development institutions began to support the commercial industry
before we did. They include the Russian Venture Company and Rosnano. By the
way, Vnesheconombank is actively investing in major projects.

One gets the impression
that Russian businessmen are lukewarm about the space industry. Why?

We have virtually no
legislation on commercial space activities. The Federal Law “On Space
Activities” was passed back in 1993 and has since been amended and supplemented
many times but it remains basically a framework law. Private interests simply
do not understand what rules to play by and businessmen are afraid to invest in
the sector. And there are many restrictions, such as on high-resolution space
photographs and on obtaining licences for space activities.

Is Skolkovo helping to attract private
capital into space exploration?

Our strategic goal is to
create a site that would attract scientists, engineers, industrialists and
entrepreneurs from various countries.

Do you think that, in the future, man will be
able to mine minerals on the Moon and perhaps on other planets?

So far, this is sci-fi stuff,
but I do not rule out that it might happen in a few decades. There is water,
manganese and aluminium on the Moon and asteroids that are fit for making fuel
and structural elements of spaceships and long-term stations. American business
has ambitious plans to develop rare earth elements and deliver them to Earth. I
am referring to Peter Diamandis and some of his colleagues, who set up a
Planetary Resources Inc. consortium in late April 2012. The world space
business in developing rapidly and we shall just have to see what the outcome
is.